Latest: Three victims named as Grenfell death toll rises to 79

Monday, June 19, 2017 - 06:44 am

Update: 17:27pm: Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, also known as Khadija Saye, 24, Abufars Ibrahim, 39, and Anthony Disson, 65, all lived in the 24-storey block, which was destroyed by a huge blaze last Wednesday in west London.

Five people have been formally identified, including 23-year-old Mohammad Alhajali and a woman whose family do not want her name to be released.

In a statement, the family of Mr Disson said: "Our family are devastated at receiving the news that Tony sadly did not survive the fire at Grenfell Tower.

"Tony leaves behind a large family, his wife, sons and grandchildren, including one grandchild he will never get to meet.

"We miss him terribly, and are pulling together as a family and trying to stay strong under these tragic circumstances. We ask at this time that our family are left to grieve in private."

Earlier: Residents living near Grenfell Tower say they have been told they face three weeks without mains water in the height of summer if they return to their homes.

Locals said they had been told they can go back to neighbouring blocks "at their own risk".

But one mother with several children said she had been told by a Kensington and Chelsea council official she would have to take them to the nearby Westway sports centre to wash them until the mains were turned back on.

The sports centre is being used as the main refuge place for those made homeless by the deadly blaze which killed at least 79 people on Wednesday.

The woman said an expected call on Monday afternoon from an official about temporary accommodation had not come.

Since their block was evacuated she had slept in several places, including her car.

She decided on Sunday night to return to their flat.

She said: "We have no water. Do they expect us to live like this for three weeks?

"An idiot from the council said if we want to wash we should go to the sports centre. For three weeks I have to come here with the children and wash ourselves?"

Her daughter added: "We don't live in a Third World country, we live in a rich country. They can't give us a hotel room so we can wash properly."

The mother also claimed that the morning after the blaze, fire alarms in her block which had been broken for five years, had been fixed.

Update 15:20pm: Three victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster have been named by the Metropolitan Police as Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, 24, also known as Khadija Saye, Anthony Disson, 65, and 39-year-old Abufars Ibrahim.

Former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross has said he is "bloody furious" that ministers have ignored calls for sprinklers to be installed in all social housing.

Mr Ross has been campaigning on the issue for 15 years, while he now also chairs heritage body the Kensington Society.

He told BBC Radio 4's World at One that a series of ministers - including now-London Mayor Sadiq Khan back in 2009 - had turned down his efforts to make changes.

Some 300 people were killed in house fires last year, Mr Ross said, adding that most of them lived in social housing that was not high rise.

"We need to think of all social housing, just as we used to think of all hotels, and we've got to put in proper precautions," he said.

Photo issued by Metropolitan Police of Anthony Disson who has been named as one of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in west London.

Update 13:44pm The UK Fire Brigade Union has called for victims to be central to the public inquiry and to have legal representation paid for by the Government.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU has said that firefighters and victims of the fire want answers.

The inquiry will not only look at what caused the fire but who was responsible for the building and for any alterations.

Update 12:25: There were emotional scenes at the site in north Kensington at 11am as firefighters halted work to join residents for a minute's silence held to remember those who lost their lives and all others affected by the blaze.

The silence was also observed at Government buildings across the country.

Metropolitan Police Commander, Stuart Cundy said that a team of some 250 investigators were now working on the case, with a primary aim being to identify victims and inform their loved ones as soon as possible.

Mr Cundy said: "Sadly, as of this morning, I am afraid to say there are now 79 people who we believe are now dead or missing and we have to presume they are dead."

He said police had received some 70 pictures and videos of the fire from the public and urged them to send more as officers investigate the blaze.

He would not be drawn on the specifics of the criminal investigation of the fire, including whether anyone had been arrested or raids carried out.

As anger continued in the wake of the disaster, described by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as a "preventable accident", the Government announced on Sunday that those left homeless will be given at least £5,500 from an emergency fund.

Residents will be given £500 in cash followed by a bank payment for the rest from Monday, with the money coming from the £5 million fund announced by Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday.

Speaking outside Scotland Yard, Mr Cundy added: "I have investigated major crime for most of my service and I have seen some terrible things. But I don't think anything prepared me for what I was going to see when I was in there.

"It's hard to describe my feelings, because I cannot imagine, and I would not want to put myself in the position of those families who have lost their loved ones.

"But being with colleagues from the London Fire Brigade when I was in there, colleagues from the London Ambulance Service and other police officers, I think it's fair to say it is incredibly emotional working in there.

"But we will do it with our utmost professionalism and we will do everything we can as quickly as we can to locate everybody who is in there."

Update 10.49am: The death toll from the Grenfell Tower fire has risen to 79, police said.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said five people had been formally identified and the rest were "sadly" missing presumed dead.

He told reporters the "awful reality" was that it might not be possible to identify all the victims.

Some families have lost more than one member, he added.

The announcement came ahead of a minute's silence to be held at 11am across all Government buildings to remember the people who lost their lives and all those affected by the fire in north Kensington last week.

People walk past floral tributes outside Notting Hill Methodist Church, near to the Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building on Wednesday morning. PA.

Earlier: Eerie footage from inside the burnt-out remains of Grenfell Tower has offered a harrowing first glimpse of the extent of the disaster.

Three short video clips and a handful of still images, released by the Metropolitan Police on Sunday evening, show remnants of appliances coated in ash as sunlight pours in through the glass-less windows.

Panoramic footage shows a flat littered with piles of debris, coated in black and grey ash - it is one of the few rooms safe enough for specialist crews to access following the blaze, which took hold in the early hours of Wednesday and has claimed at least 58 lives. The latest death toll will be updated on Monday.